February 24, 2008

To bookend the seven tales of his collection, Suzuki gives us an interesting character study of an elderly woman named Kayo, who takes daily walks along the beach, dreaming up stories to go with debris drifting along the shore. In the opening piece, her granddaughter tags along during a visit. Kayo promises she'll give the girl a treasure if she'll walk with her all seven days and listen to seven stories. Cute, but a bit unnecessary.

February 17, 2008

Ah, Suzuki, Suzuki, Suzuki. I don't know what to do with you. You give me so many mediocre horror tales that you become easy to dismiss, then something as beautiful as Paradise, or Loop, or this marvelous little gem comes from your mind and leaves me conflicted. Sure, the ghastly ghost stories sell better and get people chatting on message boards, but I feel your true talents are going to waste.

February 12, 2008

As with many Suzuki stories, we open with a realistically described little piece of Japan. In this case, a former S&M disco where a small theatre troupe is staging a play. And also like many of his previous parables, Suzuki populates it with morally grey, everyday people. Our main focus today is on the overbearing director and his disgruntled sound technician, both of whom have the hots for the leading lady. It's mainly a bit of throw-away melodrama which Suzuki would rework to slightly better effect in his Ring related short, Lemon Heart.

February 5, 2008

When the Wakashio VII - a fishing boat headed home with a full berth of tuna - come across an abandoned yacht, Kazuo Shiraishi volunteers to man the derelict while they tow it to shore. Pouring over the log, Kazuo reads the unfinished tale of a wealthy family who shared dreams of murder and felt a strange presence after the daughter plucked a mysterious object from the sea.